How often to super-chlorinate?

[adesalvo]

Assuming that I can maintain my FC in the appropriate range (and no issues with algea/clarity/elevated CC/etc) for my CYA, and assuming that I have a high bather load (it seems like a community pool)...how often (and for what duration) should I super-chlorinate? Weekly, bi-monthly?? Dose the pool in the evening and be done, or re-check the next morning and re-dose if needed?

[The Raddish]

Last year was my first full year with a pool, and we opened with the BBB method after installing a new liner. I have an AG pool, 24" x 52' (about 13,500 gal).

I didn't shock/super chlorinate all year long. I maintained a stabilizer reading of about 40, and kept the chlorine between 3 and 5 all year, and never had a single problem. We had a moderate bather load, high at times, and I was just sure to chlorinate immediately after high loads, but I never really 'super chlorinated'.

My guess is that as long as your CC level is zero, there isn't a need, at least that's how I treated it last year. I'm no expert though, all my knowledge comes from the wonderful people here.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[CarlD]

If you are worried about bather load then you need to test your water more frequently. You should use the FAS-DPD chlorine test as that is VERY accurate, goes from 0.2 to 50 ppm for both Free Chlorine and Combined Chloramines.

Unless you are aware of a DEFINITE contamination (fecal matter) there is no reason to shock your pool just to shock it.

If your FC level is consistently good, with no drops, and your CC level is consistently 0 or at least < 0.5, you are fine.

Bather load can and will drop FC--so the frequent testing is how you control for it.

But if your FC drops to 0 or very, very low, or you see algae starting, or there's a known contamination, then by all means shock your pool up the maximum for your CYA level.

Check the "Best Guess" table for the shock level appropriate for your CYA (stabilizer).

[aylad]

Assuming that I can maintain my FC in the appropriate range (and no issues with algea/clarity/elevated CC/etc) for my CYA, and assuming that I have a high bather load (it seems like a community pool)...how often (and for what duration) should I super-chlorinate? Weekly, bi-monthly?? Dose the pool in the evening and be done, or re-check the next morning and re-dose if needed?

I personally shock it after large bather loads--not because it's really necessary every time, but because you never know if they ALL got out to pee! I also shock it after heavy rainstorms. If you don't have any CC, there's no real reason to shock it, but I find that it only costs $6 or so and a few minutes to do so with bleach, and it keeps things from getting out of hand if I get lazy!!

Janet

[tphaggerty]

I have an SWG, which is absolutely great for normal pool use, but can "fall behind" when the bather load gets really heavy or after a large rainfall/windstorm dumps lots of stuff in the water. I have 2 strategies to deal with this:

1) Anticipation. When I know that I am going to have a large bather load, say a birthday party for my 10 year old, I up the SWG output (on my Aquarite, I will go from 35% to 55% or so) several hours before the party and leave it up until the following day. This kicks the CL level up a bit, but not too much before the "load" hits. This has really worked well for me.

2) Post problem bleach. The few times I have gotten a cloudy pool, instead of super-chlorinating with the SWG, I hit the pool with a couple of gallons of bleach AND turn up the SWG for about 24 hours. This seems to be the most effective way of quickly clearing up problems.